Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1887-12-14
MAKING A MOUTH.
Unfortunate Predicament of a Stat
en- Island Infant.
A Girl Who Was Born with the Osculato-
ry and Smelling Organs i'm One-Her
Treatment i'm the New York
Hospital.

Florence Trimball is such a wee little bit
of thing that she could almost drop out of
sight in quart cup. Though so small and
tender, she has had enough torture to make
her heart sick, and if she has any thought
at all about her surroundings, remarks the
New York correspondent of the New Or
leans Time democrat, she must wonder
what she was ever born for.
She was born with most peculiar and
unusual deformity. In fact, there is only
one other case of the kind recorded and
that was not as marked in several features.
The mouth of the child was put in the face
IN the wrong spot.
There Is quite history to the case from a
professional standpoint. Several months
before Florence was born young boy came
to visit Mrs. Trimball. At this time some
repairs were beng made upon her house at
Staten Island. While the boy was playing
in the yard on one occasion hatchet
slipped from carpenters hand. A warn
ing shout was given. This caused the boy
to look up just as the hatchet reached him,
and the sharp edge struck him fairly on the
nose, splitting it and the upper lip open
Mrs Trimball heard the yell, ran into the
yard, picked up the unconscious boy, car
ried him in, dropped him ON bed and
tainted away.
She came to in a little while, but several
other fainting attacks came ON, and if was
several hours before the effects of the
fright she had received had passed away.
In few weeks the boy was taken home,
but that horrible gaping wound was never
out of Mrs. Trimballs mind. When the
child was born what looked like a bright.
red line ran through the center of the child's
lips and nose. When the youngster cried
at the cold and cheerlessness of this world.
| the red line trembled and opened Horror
upon horrors 1t was the child's mouth.
Where the mouth ought to be there was
only blank space, but there it was, lips
and all, in the center Of the face, and run
ming at right angles to the place where the
mouth is found in well-behaved children
generally. The child was able to take food
through the opening, though in very
awkward manner. The upper end of the
| mouth split the nose in two between the
nostrlls. There was no other defect in the
nose.
At the end Of two weeks the child was
brought to the city, on the advice Of the
family physician, and placed in the child's 8
ward of the New York Hospital for treat
ment 1t was pretty tough case to tackle.
but the doctors thought that 1t would be an
excellent subject for experimental surgery,
and 1t was not many hours before they be-
| gan work. a small electric bulb was put
i'll the patients mouth, and by the aid of the
light good view of the internal parts was
had. The tongue, jaw and roof of the mouth
were slightly twisted and out of form, but
on the whole the conditions were very
! promising of success.
The nose and upper lip of the patient were
| thorough saturated with cocaine by injec-
ton, and when needle could be run
| through the nose with only slight twinge.
| the knife was set to work
! The vermilion in the lips was cut out
| down to the white skin. This was readily
| done, as the nostrils were much wider than
usual, to accommodate the opening There
was profuse hemorrhage, and the kicking
and squfT'ming of the child made it difficult
to handle When the bleeding was finally
stopped the two parts were brought into
| position and sutured. The patient seemed
TO be so much affected that nothing further
was done at this tune. The bandages were
not disturbed for twenty four hours. and
then the wound presented beastly appear
ance. fine, flexible tube was run through
one of the nostrils, every three hours after
/ ward, and food was pumped through it into
the stomach. 1t was the only cham / oper
and had to be taken advantage of. though
there was great danger that some of the
milk might get into the windpipe, as the
breathing had also to be done through the
/ nostril entirely. This was avoided with
great skill
The wound healed rapidly, as is usually
the case with children, and the edges having
been beveled there seemed to be a good fit
and there was promise that there would bt
only a slight scar. The mouth having beer
closed, in CIDER that Florence could have
her fill of ice cream and other dainties wher
she grew up, another one had to be made Il
order. Cocaine was used again, and thu.
time with much greater success than before
as the child rarely cried with pain, and hel
head could be firmly held without Jerking
| The surgeon tried to find 01diculdris oris
This is the little muscle that makes a circle
| around the mouth and gives it many of its
motions. twas so family developed thai
there was no certainty in placing it, and the
incision had 10 be made at random, running
/ IN horizontal direction, at point where
the relative distances between the nose and
! chin and mouth were maintained.
| The Incision was made a little larger than
necessary through the tissue to allow for
contraction. There was considerable bleed
ing, and it was hard work to keep the fluid
out of the child's throat. Fortunately the
upper and lower jaws were not much out OF
plumb and could be readily moved, and did
not require any cutting. There was slight
hssure in the superior auxiliary, where the
passage from the first mouth was put, but
it was deemed best not to do any thing Tor II
until after several days. In order 70 keen
the artificial lips from being closed up,
thin ivory wedge was put between them,
and held in position by adhesive plaster.
Then the wound was bandaged. The feed.
ing was kept up through the nose, and the
youn4ster seemed to like the novelty Of II